1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for securing articles in the bed of a pickup truck, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to apparatus for securing a spare tire.
2. Brief Discussion of Related Art.
It appears that the related art in this field goes back to the 1920's. The development of this art is of course related to the development of cars and trucks, and most of these devices have been designed for holding spare tires.
Daughbetee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,972 issued Oct. 19, 1971, taught a spare tire bracket apparatus having a vertical support assembly with an anchor assembly at top and bottom, the bottom being designed for adjustable movement. A connector assembly extends horizontally from the support assembly.
Koch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,923 issued Jan. 4, 1983, taught a snap-in tire carrier having a substantially vertical angle brace with a planar base plate at the bottom and a spring plate and L clamp at the top. An L rod is mounted in the middle of the angle brace and extends horizontally therefrom.
Matthew, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,402 issued Nov. 22, 1983, taught a spare tire mount having a vertical main support structure with a threaded member for adjustable vertical movement. The support structure has a plate at the bottom and a U-shaped element at the top. A tire securing device extends horizontally from the main support structure. Also, other tire mounting devices can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,848 issued to Clark; U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,863 issued to Norris; U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,837 issued to Carr et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,840 issued to Bowen. Of interest are U.S. Pat. No. 1,592,785 issued to Soley, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,618 issued to Shattuck.
All of the these prior art holders are rather complex and limited in usage. The present invention presents a simpler, more universally usable holder which overcomes many of the deficiencies of the prior art.